goodbye 2009. thanks for many things...

i'm saying adios. au revoir. slán leat. arrivederci. all hail to 2009. wish i could say i'm sad you're leaving. however, i can't. what i can say is that i'm glad you came.

this year started off wonderfully. i was with a man that i loved, had my children around me. life was. happy.sad.joyful.dramatic.traumatic. then the breakup came. my mother fell ill. i uprooted my children when i moved them 4 hours away from their school to go take care of my mother. their father & i have been separated for nearly 4 yrs now. but moving was still hard for them, as 4 hrs now also parted them from their father which they usually saw 6 days a wk. there are sooo many things that i can cry about. but i have been blessed with many things that i can laugh about.

so THANK YOU GOD for the many blessings of 2009...
(and just a few to be mentioned in no particular order)

*thank you for giving me the opportunity to make new memories for myself, my children & my mother. had she not gotten so sick, we wouldn't have moved to be with her. we'd be missing out.

*thank you for the breakup. this relationship taught me so many things. while i know NOW that it was too much too soon, i was given the chance to experience true love again. and while it came at the price of a beautiful friendship, and i'll forever miss it, i do know what i'm capable of feeling. and sharing.

*thank you for reuniting me with a different friend. this friend was given to me at the age of 18. And we've had a couple hiatus in our long tenure. But God, you keep putting this man back into my life for a reason. i'm open to those reasons, whatever those reasons are...whatever those reasons will be. i know if the situation had not changed in my life prior (the breakup) that this reconciliation would have not happened. i'm grateful for Your foresight. and for letting me appreciate the hindsight.

*thank you for the many new friendships that i've been blessed with. i'm saddened at the dissolution of some friendships & the strain of others, but i do know that i'm truly blessed with many new people in my life. and for the longevity of those friendships, some short term, some for the long haul. i'm grateful.

*thank you for strengthening my Faith. God, You've shown me Your Grace & Mercy. I know i'm no where near the perfect child, but i do try to be a good person. I believe that i'm rewarded greatly by the blessings bestowed upon me. i do hope that even tho i fall short of thanking You for each one...that my gratitude is seen in other ways.

so there we go. key things that i'm grateful that 2009 brought with it. i'm waving my lil hankie at its departure. 2009 definitely leaves me with some very bittersweet memories...but i'm anxious to see what rolls around next....

so hello, 2010. so nice to meet you. let's see what you've brought with you....